After a brief seach of GQ, “wash winter” over 12 months, I determined this was a question in need of asking:
Simple question, really: provided the temperature stays below freezing, does washing your car in the winter provide any benefit other than cleaning the junk off your paint…until you pull back onto the road again, that is.
I guess my thought on this was that, as long as the temp stays below freezing, the salt isn’t going to hurt your car and washing, especially using the underbody spray, might only push salt further into your cars body work and frame, leading to bigger problems later.
From a position of total ignorance, I ask what is the basis of your statement that the salt does not hurt your car as long as the temp stays below freezing? I just sorta figured all that gunk COULDN’T be good for the car.
And periodic washing lessens the amount of crud that gets transferred to our family’s coats, in the garage.
Of course - as you wisely point out, until you go back out on the road!
WAG: The underbody of your car does not stay below freezing in its entirety - various parts heat up while the car is running. Salt will begin to corrode these, thus you should get the underbody washed to flush off the salt that’s building up.
I talked to this guy from NH & he said that every year he takes some oil & coats the underside of his car with it. Stinks, yes, be he said it works very well & I saw his car & he was right. Otherwise he said people there have to get a new car every few years.
<hijack> A new car every few years? What, does New Hampshire have magical car-eating gerbils? Salt does damage cars, yes, but it’s not like they fall completely apart in three years. </hijack>
I was having this discussion with my mother the other day, and we reached the conclusion that salt on the car’s body doesn’t really do any damage until the temperature gets above freezing… but the underbody gets heated up unevenly during operation of the motor vehicle, which could cause problems, so we’re going to be washing our cars as soon as this cold snap breaks. (It’s been in single digits, which is not a good time to be running around outside with a hose).
We are not mechanics, and my best friend (who IS a mechanic) said only “Well, it’s not like washing your car is gonna hurt it.”
Around here (Eastern Massachusetts), we get snow & ice melting even when the temperature is below freezing; sunshine causes localized heating. On a sunny day snow melts on my driveway and car even when it’s only 20 degrees F. (Though its going to be minus 5 tonight)
Cooking, I suppose those are also part of my question: does the dried salt harm the vehicle and/or does the brackish solution still aid rust/damage at sub freezing temperatures?
A chip in the paint with salt in it will corrode faster than a chip in the paint that’s been washed and waxed.
Then again, washing your car when it’s well below freezing gives you the chance to figure out how to unlock your car when the lock is frozen shut. Whee.
Well, remember that when you’re driving in snowy conditions, a lot of water gets kicked up off the road, and re-wets the salt already there. My husband says the salt eats away at the car when it’s dry, but I’m not too sure about that.
Usually, I’ll just spray the car off at a car wash with plain water to get the worst of it off. It can’t hurt, as the saying goes, and I’ve never had my doors freeze shut on me. (Knock on wood.)
